Pollinators including bees and other insects are typically discussed as ecosystem services rather than welfare subjects, but the evidence for insect sentience raises questions about their individual wellbeing.
Pollinator welfare sits at the frontier where ecosystem service thinking meets emerging invertebrate welfare science. Honeybee and bumblebee management practices that stress colonies, suppress natural behaviour, and expose bees to pathogens and pesticides may cause welfare harm if bees have relevant capacity for negative experience. The evidence for bumblebee negative affect is particularly significant. A precautionary approach to pollinator welfare would minimise transport stress, pesticide exposure, and behavioural suppression while building evidence on which specific practices cause the most harm.